The majority of beverage container holders have been designed for either 12 oz cans or 12 oz bottles. Recently, the popularity of water bottles has created a market for bottle holders that can fit 16-25 oz and greater water bottles. The term beverage container is not limited to the typical twelve ounce bottle or can and may include water bottles, soda bottles, plastic squeeze bottles and even plastic cups or glass drinkware. The use of a cup or glass is useful when it is desirable to have a non-dilutive means of cooling a beverage (ice in a beverage melts over time diluting the beverage).
Existing beverage holders can be grouped into at least the following categories according to their construction and how they achieve the result.
Insulators—typically manufactured from neoprene (chloroprene) or SBR (styrene butadiene rubber) closed cell foam rubber, they are designed to lessen the rate of warming of a chilled beverage. The insulator holder is cylindrical in shape with an inside diameter slightly bigger than the intended beverage container to allow easy insertion and removal of the beverage container. Given the variance in diameter of the average can from the average 12 oz bottle, current beverage holder manufacturers generally create two versions of holders—one that fits cans and one that fits bottles. The can version has a very simple construction—a cylindrical tube with a bottom; the height of holder is less than the height of can to ensure that a portion of the can is visible and reachable for easy removal of the can from the holder when the can is completely inserted into the holder (i.e. the can's bottom is in contact with the interior bottom of the holder). The 12 oz bottle version is only slightly more complicated—a cylindrical tube, a bottom, and a tapering neck with a zipper to snugly fit the neck of a 12 oz bottle. The water bottle versions often have a draw string around the top opening to secure the bottle and provide greater coverage of the bottle to lessen warming. The primary shortcoming of this design is that it only insulates but does not provide any cooling to the beverage. The insulators—particularly ones intended for cans—often have a hole in the bottom to prevent build up of pressure or a vacuum during insertion and removal of the container, respectively. Regardless of whether this bottom hole is used or not, these types of insulating holders usually do not provide watertight sealing between the container and holder. In addition, the insulators typically have seams that are not watertight—particular where the bottom is attached to the cylindrical side. In the case of ones having the bottom hole, water would leak through it. On those without a hole in the bottom, they typically are not made to fit tightly on the container and thus can allow water to leak out between the container and holder. Regardless of whether the holder is intended for use with cans or with bottles, the holders are do not typically provide for a space below the beverage container to accommodate a refrigerant.
Holders with Re-freezable Refrigerant. These typically have a double walled plastic construction with a non-toxic re-freezable liquid or gel contained in the space between the double side walls. The product is chilled in a freezer for about 4 hours prior to use and a bottle or can is inserted in the cylindrical holder to keep the beverage cool. However, this design suffers from several shortcomings including:                (a) Expensive to manufacture—due to high tooling costs for injection molding and/or blow molding dies.        (b) No way to “recharge” quickly—once the refrigerant in the device has warmed to the ambient external air temperate, there is no way to obtain continued cooling of the beverage or cooling of a new beverage without recharging the holder (i.e., make it cold again by putting it back in the freezer) or using another chilled holder. This diminishes the usefulness and the convenience of the product since this type of product is often used outside, for example at a beach, where it is not possible to refreeze the product or, at least very least inconvenient to wait the several hours required to refreeze the refrigerant.        
Insulators That Cool beverage With an Ice and Water Mixture. An example of this type of holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,967 and is currently marketed by O&D Plastics, Ltd. under the brand name IceTub™. As described in its patent, “The holder includes one or more support ridges, a pedestal, or other beverage container support means to support the bottom of the can or bottle above the holder bottom to create a space for an ice or an ice and water cooling medium. A sealing means between the holder and the beverage container permits the beverage container and the holder to be tipped for drinking without spilling the ice or ice and water used to provide the cooling.” The drawbacks of this design include:                (a) Manufacturing Expense—The manufacturing costs of this design can be high due to high tooling costs for injection molding and/or blow molding dies. The product also requires tooling for multiple parts and possibly expensive “overmolding” of parts used in the sealing means.        (b) Limited range of beverage container diameters—due to materials used in sealing. Testing has revealed that the product can leak when used in conjunction with certain national brand beverage bottles such as a “Sam Adams” brand beer bottle.        (c) More expensive to print on. Beverage holders are a very popular promotional item used by companies. Since the most common holders are made of neoprene foam, promotional vendors have equipment designed to print on neoprene. However, it is believed that it is much less common that such vendors have the specialized equipment to print on the type of thermoplastic used for the IceTub™ holder.        (d) Two piece construction. The IceTub has a removable seal that snaps into the top opening of the housing. In the event the seal, which is relatively small, is misplaced, lost or separated from the housing, the product will not work as intended.        